Bill Legend (born William Arthur Fifield, 8 May 1944,

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

, Essex, England) is an English musician and former drummer for

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

band T. Rex during their most successful period.

Biography

One of three children, Legend worked as a commercial artist after leaving school, while playing the drums in a variety of bands. He was drumming under his real name for a group called "Legend", fronted by

Mickey Jupp Michael Graham "Mickey" Jupp (born 6 March 1944, in Worthing, Sussex, England) is an English musician and songwriter, mainly associated with the Southend music scene. Career Jupp played in several Southend bands after leaving art college in 196 ...

, when

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted int ...

, the man behind the new-found success of T. Rex, spotted him and asked producer

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

to approach him. Legend agreed to join T. Rex, immediately buying a number of the band's albums from their days as

Tyrannosaurus Rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' live ...

to familiarise himself with Bolan's previous work. At the time, T.Rex had enjoyed their first hit single with " Ride a White Swan". Bolan and his percussionist Mickey Finn had already recruited a bassist in

Steve Currie Steve Currie (19 May 1947 – 28 April 1981) was an English musician who was best known as the bass player and a long-term member of the English glam rock band T. Rex. While working for the local Tax office, Currie played with local Grims ...

, but still needed a drummer to complete the

rhythm section A rhythm section is a group of musicians within a music ensemble or band that provides the underlying rhythm, harmony and pulse of the accompaniment, providing a rhythmic and harmonic reference and "beat" for the rest of the band. The rhythm sec ...

of their new electric line-up. At Legend's first session he played drums on " Hot Love" and the B-side "Woodland Rock". However T. Rex stayed as a three-piece band for a short period, forcing Finn to mime playing the drums on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' when "Hot Love" was at No. 1. Bolan suggested Legend's stage name, which was derived from the name of the band he had been playing in with Mickey Jupp. Legend played drums for T. Rex on four albums: ''

Electric Warrior ''Electric Warrior'' is the second studio album by English rock band T. Rex, their sixth since their debut as Tyrannosaurus Rex. The album marked a turning point in the band's sound, moving away from the folk-oriented sound of the group's pre ...

'', ''

The Slider ''The Slider'' is the seventh studio album by English rock band T. Rex, and the third since abbreviating their name from Tyrannosaurus Rex. It was released on 21 July 1972 by record labels EMI and Reprise. Two number-one singles, "Telegram Sam ...

'', ''

Tanx ''Tanx'' is a 1973 album by rock band T. Rex, the eighth since their debut as Tyrannosaurus Rex in 1968, and the fourth under the moniker T. Rex. It was released on 16 March by record label EMI. ''Tanx'' was a musical departure from previou ...

'' and ''

Zinc Alloy Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic ta ...

''. The band had four UK No. 1 singles and four UK No. 2 singles in a three-year period, after which it began to disintegrate as the hits dried up. Legend reverted to session drumming afterwards. Legend is the only surviving member of the 1970–1973 T. Rex line-up. Bolan (in 1977) and Currie (in 1981) both died in car crashes, and Finn succumbed to illness in 2003. Despite signing a petition against the 1997 formation of

Mickey Finn's T-Rex Mickey Finn's T-Rex are a band formed in 1997 by former T. Rex members Mickey Finn, Jack Green, and drummer Paul Fenton. They have been regularly touring worldwide since their formation, despite Finn's death in 2003. History Formation I ...

, Legend was alleged to have his own tribute band called X-T. Rex, which in 2014 was expected to write an album of their own.

References

External links

Bill Legend's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Legend, Bill 1944 births Living people People from Barking, London English rock drummers Glam rock musicians T. Rex (band) members